COP24, the speech of 15-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg everyone should listen to

The COP24 in Katowice has ended leaving many doubts among environmental associations. However, there’s who doesn’t give in – like Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who decided to go to Poland to give a speech at the UN climate conference.
Thunberg is a 15-year-old climate activist with the Asperger’s syndrome who is continuing her school strike each and every Friday to ask Sweden’s government and other countries to act against climate change. In her speech at the COP24 plenary she has pointed out how no solutions adequate to the gravity of the situation have been taken. Greta Thunberg has also called on students to join an international school strike on 14 December.

The speech by Greta Thunberg at COP24 in Katowice

Below is the transcript of the speech of Greta Thunberg at the COP24 in Katowice, Poland. A hearthfelt, harsh speech she gave with a calm voice, addressing the world’s leaders.

"My name is Greta Thunberg. I am 15 years old. I am from Sweden. I speak on behalf of Climate Justice Now. Many people say that Sweden is just a small country and it doesn't matter what we do. But I've learned you are never too small to make a difference. And if a few children can get headlines all over the world just by not going to school, then imagine what we could all do together if we really wanted to.
But to do that, we have to speak clearly, no matter how uncomfortable that may be. You only speak of green eternal economic growth because you are too scared of being unpopular. You only talk about moving forward with the same bad ideas that got us into this mess, even when the only sensible thing to do is pull the emergency brake. You are not mature enough to tell it like is. Even that burden you leave to us children. But I don't care about being popular. I care about climate justice and the living planet. Our civilization is being sacrificed for the opportunity of a very small number of people to continue making enormous amounts of money. Our biosphere is being sacrificed so that rich people in countries like mine can live in luxury. It is the sufferings of the many which pay for the luxuries of the few.

The year 2078, I will celebrate my 75th birthday. If I have children maybe they will spend that day with me. Maybe they will ask me about you. Maybe they will ask why you didn't do anything while there still was time to act. You say you love your children above all else, and yet you are stealing their future in front of their very eyes.
Until you start focusing on what needs to be done rather than what is politically possible, there is no hope. We can't solve a crisis without treating it as a crisis. We need to keep the fossil fuels in the ground, and we need to focus on equity. And if solutions within the system are so impossible to find, maybe we should change the system itself. We have not come here to beg world leaders to care. You have ignored us in the past and you will ignore us again. We have run out of excuses and we are running out of time. We have come here to let you know that change is coming, whether you like it or not. The real power belongs to the people. Thank you".